Folding walking and skating guard



April 6, 19453. A. NELSON FOLDING WALKING AND SKATING GUARD 2Sheets-Shet 1 Filed Dec.

f r/id M25072 April 6, 1943. A. NELSON FOLDING WALKING AND SKATING GUARDFiled Dec. 4, 194; 2 sheets sheet 2 Patented Apr. 6, 1943 UNITED STATESPATENT O F F ICE FOLDING WALKING AND SKATING GUARD Arvid Nelson,Syracuse, N. Y.

Application December 4, 1941, Serial No. 421,675

6 Claims. (Cl. 15522) This invention relates to a novel mobile guard orsupport for use by small children in learning to walk, or by olderchildren or adults while learningto skate, to eliminate the injuriescaused by falls during the learning period.

More particularly, it is an aim of the invention to provide a tripodshaped support having forwardly converging, substantially horizontalupper portions forming hand rails, the ends of which are connected to afront leg and two rear legs which diverge downwardly.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mobile support or guardof the above described character having a detachable and adjustablefabric seat hung in the frame of the support.

A further aim of the invention is to provide -means whereby thesupporting frame, when in use, will be effectively held in an openposition and by which the frame can be collapsed or folded, when not inuse, and without disconnecting the parts of the frame.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter becomemore fully apparent from the following description of the drawings,which illustrate a preferred embodiment "thereof, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the mobile guard or support,

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the same,

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the same,

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal sectional view takensubstantially along the plane of the line 4-4 of Figure 1,

Figure 5 is a transverse vertical sectional view of the same takensubstantially along the plane of the line 55 of Figure 1, and

Figure 6 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially along theplane of the line 5'o of Figure 3, with the seat detached.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein like referencecharacters designate like or corresponding parts throughout thedifferent views, It designates generally a mobile foldable Walking andskating guard or support in its entirety and which includes a frame,designated generally ll, formed of frame sections I2 and 13.

The frame sections l2 and I3 are formed of metal, preferably steel, andare preferably tubular in order to provide a sturdy construction whichwill be light in weight. The sections l2 and I3 are provided with upper,substantially horizontally disposed portions forming hand rails l4 andI5, respectively. The hand rail 14 is provided at its ends with integraldepending supporting legs 16 and H. The hand rail I5 is provided at oneend thereof, with an integral depending leg I8, corresponding to the leg[1. A sleeve I9, which is oblong in cross section, is mounted on theupper portion of the leg l6 and is detachably fastened thereto by meansof screw 'fastenings 20. The hand rail 1 5 is provided with an integraldepending portion 2| at its forward end, which is disposed in the sleeveI 9. The

portion of the sleeve "I9, which is engaged by the portion 21, is"provided with inverted L- .shaped slots 22 in which are slidablydisposed studs '23 which are detachably mounted in the member 21. Thestuds 23 are normally disposed in the lower ends of the slots 22 andwhen thus positioned hold the hand rails l4 and I5 inforwa'rdly-converging relationship to one another so that said handrails meet at their forward ends and are spread at their rear ends,

and as a result, the guard 10 is open at its rear end. Consequently, theleg [6 forms the forward leg of the support 1-0 and the legs I! and i8form the rear supporting legs thereof. The legs l6, l1. and I8 aredisposed in downwardly diverging relationship to one another, as bestseen in Figure 1, and are provided with casters 24 at their lower ends.The upper, horizontal portions of the slots 22 extend away from the legl6,-so that by lifting upwardly i011 the frame section 13 the studs 23can be moved to positions so that the portion 2| can turn in the sleeveI9 to swing the section I3 toward the section [2 so that the hand raill5 will be disposed against the hand rail M for collapsing or foldingthe supporting frame II, when not in use. of the section 13 will holdthe frame H locked in an open or extended position, as seen in Figures 1and 2.

The support l0 also includes a fabric seat 25 which is hung in the frameII and which includes a back portion 26 having a fold 21 at its upperedge through which extends a flexible member 28 which is provided withsnap hooks 29 at the ends thereof. The hand rails l4 and I5 are providedwith inwardly extending eye screws 30 to which snap hooks 29 aredetachably connected for supporting the rear end of the seat 25. Theseat 25 is provided with a forwardly tapered bottom 3|, the rear part ofwhich is provided with leg openings 32 and upwardly extending sides 33.A belt strap 34 is attached at one end to the tapered forward end of thebottom 3| and adjustably and detachably engages a belt buckle 35 whichis mounted on a barrel portion 35 formed on the upper, rear part of thesleeve [9.

The weight It will be obvious that the guard or support I can be made invarious sizes and can be used, with the seat 25 attached, as a babywalker and when so used the babys legs would extend through the legholes 32 so that the support [0 will support the weight of the child andthe hand rails l4 and I5 can be grasped to enable a child to steadyitself while learning to walk. Larger size supports l0 may be used, withthe seat 25 detached, for learning to roller skate and when so used thehand rails in and I5 are grasped for balancing the skater.

Obviously, if desired, runners or blades, not shown, could besubstituted for the casters 24 to enable the support or guard ID tobeused by children or adults while learning to ice skate.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously beresorted to, provided they fall within the spirit and scope of theinvention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims, as only apreferred embodiment thereof has been disclosed.

I claim as my invention:

1. A mobile support comprising a frame having an angular upperportionformed of forwardly converging members, depending supporting legs,

surface engaging means connected to the lower ends of said legs, saidframe consisting of two members, one of said'members having a leg ateach end thereof, and the other member having a leg at its rear endonly, and means to connect the forward end of the last mentioned memberto the front leg of the first mentioned member.

2. A mobile support comprising a frame having an angular upper portionformed of forwardly converging members, depending supporting legs,surface-engaging means connected to the lower ends of the legs, saidframe consisting of two members, one of said members having a leg ateach end thereof, sleeves secured to one of said legs, and the othermember having a leg at one end and a depending portion at its other enda sleeve connected to the forward leg, said last mentioned member having2, depending portion, at its forward end, disposed in the sleeve, andmeans for connecting the depending portion to the sleeve.

4. A mobile support comprising a frame having two upright members, eachof said members having a horizontal upper portion, one of said membershaving a supporting leg at each end thereof, a sleeve secured to one ofsaid legs, the other member having a supporting leg at one end and adepending portion at the other end engaging in said sleeve, the sleevehaving an angular slot therein, and a stud on said depending portionengaging in said slot providing means to pivotally move the membersrelatively to one another and to hold said members in angular relationto one another.

5. Amobile support comprising a frame having an angular upper portionformed of forwardly converging members, depending supporting legs,surface-engaging means connected to the lower ends of the legs, saidframe consisting of two members, one of saidmembers having a leg at eachend thereof, sleeves secured to one of said legs, and the other memberhaving a leg at one end and a depending portion at its other endengaging in said sleeve and rotatable therein, means to hold the membersfrom rotation in operative position, and a flexible member connectingthe other ends of said members to provide a triangular enclosure.

6. A mobile support comprising a frame having an angular upper portionformed of forwardly converging members, a frame consisting of twomembers, one of said members having a leg at each end thereof, a sleevesecured to one of said legs, the other member having a leg at one endand a depending portion at its other end engaging in said sleeve androtatable therein, and means to hold the members from rotation inoperative position, a flexible member connecting the other ends of saidmembers to provide a triangular enclosure, and a fabric seat detachablymounted on said flexible member and to one of said supporting legs,

ARVID NELSON.

